Unexpected Alliance
by Animorphs007
Summary: Everyone knows that unexpected things happen in the Fabricated World. Now that Ib and Garry escaped and Mary is burned to ash, what happens to the gallery? Lady in Blue encounters a man stuck in his canvas, so she frees him. Can she and her new friend escape this false world? Or will the visitors stop them? And why did these roses appear?
1. Chapter 1

**I've been writing the chapters for this story for a while now. It's a little different because it is more in favor of Guertena's works rather than the visitors of the gallery. As I said, I've been writing this story, and my friend Maggie has been reading the chapters. Recently she asked if I put anything here yet and my answer was no. **

**So in honor of my friend Maggie, I'm dedicating this chapter to her for getting me to finally type it. This is kind of a short chapter, but I want to see how well people like it. Please review and I will be happy.**

**Oh, one more thing before the disclaimer. Since this story is in favor of the artwork, the paintings get real roses. But only the works with full souls can have a rose. Therefore if the painting is a main character, then it gets a rose. I don't know if that was entirely clear. **

**Um, I don't own Ib. Or any of the characters. If there are characters you don't recognize, they still belong to Kouri. I just made some characters round instead of flat. There will be new paintings and puzzles later though. Onto the story!**

Unexpected Alliance: Chapter 1

The Lady in Blue was lost. She was crawling about in circles around the hall of a fabricated world. The hall had many walls, but they all were already occupied by a painting.

She ceased crawling for a moment to catch her breath. She had straight brown hair that flowed past her shoulders, and passionate blue eyes. She was a painting who looked graceful when hung on a wall, but now she was forced to crawl around halfway out of her frame. If only she could find a place on the wall to rest in her canvas!

Lady in Blue dragged herself along with her frame attached to her hip to the nearest painting, which happened to be Lady in Green. "Green! I'm completely exhausted. Would you be a dear and let me rest on the wall?" she pleaded with the painting.

The painting on the wall winced in irritation. "No, Blue. Now go bother someone else." the lady on the wall snapped.

Lady in Blue crawled away, sad at being rejected. She wished she could leave the hallway, but unfortunately she couldn't open a door in her state. Being painted without a lower half really sucked.

She paused once again, this time in front of a painting she had only glanced at before. It was titled 'Hanged Man'. It featured a young man with black eyes and messy brown hair hanging upside down by his foot. His skin was very pale and he had a look of terror on his face. He wore grey prison clothes with the numbers '6295' printed on it.

But unlike Lady in Green, this painting didn't seem to respond to the one outside his frame.

"Hmmmm…" Lady in Blue mused aloud. "Maybe I can force his frame down?" She nodded at her own suggestion and tried to pry off the frame. The attachment of the painting was too high for any pulling to be of use at her level.

"If only I had legs, then I would have no more problems." she muttered as she cradled her perfect, soft hands while propping herself up on her elbows. She peered closer at the painting, noticing the fact his whole body was painted, unlike her. "Perhaps I could help him out of his frame, and he in turn could help me."

Using one hand to lever herself up, she stretched her other hand to the painting. Her hand slipped into the wet paint, causing her to shiver, and grabbed the man's hand.

As soon as she got a good grip on the hand, she yanked it hard. The man didn't budge on the first try. The Lady persistently tugged at his hand until the rope slipped from around his ankle and he tumbled out of his canvas.

The man landed hard on his back, right on top of Lady in Blue. "Dear me!" cried Lady in Blue, "Get off!"

The man groaned and lifted himself off the painting woman. "What? I'm free…" the man said in wonder.

The Lady in Blue glanced down at the Hanged Man's foot. "Sir, you're hurt!" she pointed out. Indeed, his ankle was a raw red from where the rope once was.

"I hardly feel it." The man replied. He stood up and looked down at Lady in Blue with kindness. "Thank you for freeing me, madam."

"I'm Lady in Blue." she automatically corrected him.

"It's nice to meet you, Lady. My name is Hanged Man." Hanged Man grimaced in distaste at his own name. "I wish I were called something else though."

Lady thought for a moment. "Why don't I call you HM?" she suggested.

The Hanged Man brightened instantly. "I like that." he told her.

'This is almost too easy.' Lady thought as she said, "Well HM, welcome to the Fabricated World. Now would you be so kind as to lift your canvas off the wall?"

"Of course, Lady." HM replied, a bit puzzled at the request. He reached up to the frame and pulled. He yanked at the frame, but it wouldn't budge no matter what.

"Did you-really-need it-down?" he asked between pants as he flexed his sore fingers.

HM grinned down at her. "Don't worry… I'm sure we'll find someplace. Let's go this way."

The man started down the hallway, slowing his limp so the tired Lady didn't have to crawl very fast. Lady in Blue was a little surprised that the Hanged Man would take charge of their little adventure, but she supposed it was because he was curious about the world he inhabited.

They traveled in silence, occasionally glancing at the other or the artwork surrounding them. The Ladies in Color and the headless statues dozed in a bored manner where they rested.

They turned a corner and found a door. "There are no empty spaces here. We should turn back." Lady said, but HM approached the door with curiosity etched on his face.

"Let's look in here, Lady. We might find what we're looking for." HM said with his hand reaching for the knob.

"I'd rather not." Lady stared with distaste at her greatest enemy. "I can't open doors."

"Oh…" HM glanced down at her frame where her body ended. "I'll hold the door open for you."

"But I'll be trapped in there." Lady pointed out.

"Not while I'm here." He vowed. "I'll always open the door for you."

Lady rolled her eyes but scuttled through when he opened the door. He smiled to himself, not noticing that the door clicked shut when he entered the room.

From the door they could see that there was a white loveseat in the middle of the room, a few bookcases in the corner by a window, and a portrait against the wall opposite of them.

HM approached the loveseat and pointed to a note above it. "I can't read, Lady. What does it say?"

Lady dragged herself closer and read aloud, "'If you are tired, why not rest? You will never be hurt again.'"

"That sounds good to me." HM plopped down on the loveseat and patted the spot next to him invitingly.

Lady shook her head at the offer. "I can't sit." she reminded him, "I don't have legs."

HM stared at the floor in front of him sadly, but then his face lit up with inspiration. He stood, grabbed Lady's frame with one hand, scooped the other hand under her stomach, and lifted.

Lady flailed her arms in surprise when the ground below her disappeared. HM gently set the panicked painting woman on the loveseat and sat down next to her. "Isn't this great?" he asked, "I've never had this much fun before!" He grinned at Lady happily.

"Please warn me the next time you do that." Lady snapped, sliding herself off the loveseat with her hands. Her frame dug into her hip when it landed, making her wince.

She ignored the hurtful look HM shot toward her and continued to crawl to the bookcases. 'One of these looks like it can be moved to block the window.' she thought.

She dragged herself over to the bookcase and pushed her shoulder against it. Even using all her might, she couldn't push the heavy bookcase.

Seeing her struggles, HM limped over to her. "Can I help?" he asked.

"Sure. Would you move this bookcase in front of the window, please?"

"Of course, Lady." HM set his shoulder against the bookcase and shoved it with all his might until it was blocking the window. "What-pant pant-was the point-pant wheeze-of that?"

"I just don't want any ladies to accidentally come in with no way of getting out." Lady explained.

Once Hanged Man caught his breath again he smiled at Lady. "That's really nice of you."

Lady smirked at her companion and crawled over to the huge painting. The painting featured a man and a woman. The man had somewhat messy brown hair and brown eyes. The woman had her brown hair in a bun and red eyes. Both people were featured from head to toe unmoving in a wooden frame.

"What does it say?" HM said from behind her. He pointed to the plaque below the painting.

"'Couple,'" Lady read aloud. She glanced up at the painting again and shuddered. It was a bit disturbing, seeing full people trapped within their frames. At least the half of Lady that existed could feel and move.

She turned to make her way back to the loveseat when she saw something that made her pause. Behind the loveseat were two tables. One was too high for her to see over. The other was low enough for her to reach.

On the low table was a vase with a violet rose that was too beautiful to be real. "Ooh, pretty!" Lady gasped, taking the rose from the vase. It had 7 petals on it. 7 petals to play her favorite game.

"Hey Lady, what does this say?" HM asked. Lady looked up and saw he had a brown rose with 10 petals in one hand and a piece of paper in the other.

He handed the paper to Lady, who wasn't pleased with the distraction. "'When the rose withers, so you too shall wither away.'" She read aloud. She put the paper down and gazed at the rose with greedy eyes. "Time to play!"

"I don't think you should do that." HM warned as Lady's fingers grasped a delicate petal.

"Loves me," Lady sang, ignoring her companion. She yanked off the petal and cried in pain as a gash appeared on her forearm.

HM stuffed his own rose in his pocket and reached down to touch Lady's. "So if the rose loses petals, we get hurt. You should take care of your rose, Lady."

"But…All the ladies in the gallery like to play loves me, loves me not."

"Just don't pull out the petals."

Lady grumbled, twirling the rose in her hand lightly. "Okay. She tucked the rose into her hair behind her ear. Her hands twitched in disappointment.

"Hey look on the bright side. My foot feels better." HM remarked. His foot did lose the red raw circle that was around his ankle.

He laughed, running a hand through his hair when a banging sound rang through the room. "What was that?" he cried, jumping back in surprise.

"Trouble." Lady replied in a low voice.


	2. Chapter 2

**... I'm a little surprised. I got almost no feedback at all on this. I guess it is possible that people aren't fans of Lady in Blue and Hanged Man. Oh well. This chapter is a little more intense and a bit cheesy. I hope you like it. There is a little HMxLady going on here. :)**

**Don't forget to review! I want to know what you are all thinking about this. Should I continue? Is there something I should fix? Or should I just scrap it and focus on my other stories?**

**I don't own Ib.**

Unexpected Alliance: Chapter 2

The banging echoed through the room. "What do we do?" HM asked with a panic laced voice.

"Shhh…" Lady tried to calm him down with a glare. "Just open the door."

"But what if whatever is trying to get in hurts us? Your lady friends like to play with flowers!" HM protested loudly.

"I can't open the door." Lady reminded him. "If only one of us can get out, it will be you."

"Don't say things like that, Lady! I'm not leaving you trapped. Come on." HM strode around the loveseat and tried to twist the doorknob.

The knob refused to turn, even as the pounding sound got louder. "This isn't good…" Lady said, scuttling along beside him.

With a boom, the wall next to the painting 'Couple' crumbled when Lady in Yellow burst through. She glanced around with wild eyes until she spotted the rose in Lady in Blue's hair. "I found the flower! Gimme!" Lady in Yellow yelled as she lurched to the ones with roses.

Lady in Blue tried to crawl away, but the Lady in Yellow came after her. Yellow grabbed a fistful of hair and was reaching for the violet rose when a hand slapped her away.

Yellow dropped the hair in surprise and Lady hurried behind HM. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I don't know." Lady confessed, looking beyond Yellow to see more ladies of color coming in the hole in the wall. "Now's your chance. You should run." she advised.

Yellow was making another attempt for Lady's rose when Lady felt HM wrap his arms around her stomach and lift her up. "What're you doing?!" she cried as he leapt over Yellow and evaded the grasps of the ladies.

"I'm running." he replied easily when they burst out of the room. They couldn't stop there because the hallway was alive with walking statues and crawling ladies. "Run, run, run, run, run, run!" HM chanted to himself, avoiding the hands that reached for the roses.

A headless statue grabbed at his grey shirt with a strong metallic hand, causing the fabric to tear. A brown rose was jostled and fell from his pocket to the floor. The man stumbled, but continued to carry Lady. "HM!" Lady cried.

HM gave her a weak smile. "Don't worry about me, Lady. I'll go back for it once I know you're safe."

"But HM-"

"Look, a door!" HM interrupted, grimacing in pain. With a fresh burst of speed, he ran to the door, shifted Lady's weight to one hand, and twisted the knob.

The door opened, and HM rushed in with Lady in his arms. After checking to make sure they were safe, he carefully placed Lady down.

"Did you lose anymore petals?" he asked.

Lady checked. "Only one. Now I have 5."

"Okay. Try not to lose anymore while I'm gone." HM winced again and turned the doorknob.

Lady lifted herself with her hands and dragged her frame to HM's legs. "Let me come." she demanded. "I can help-"

"Lady, stay." He opened the door and closed it behind him before Lady could slip through.

"HM!" she cried, pitifully clawing at her worst enemy, "Please…"

Lady pulled herself away from the door, shaking silently. She refused to shed a tear for that idiot. Why was he so nice to her? No one else had stayed beside her as long as he did. Why did he awaken a caring side of her she'd never known existed?

'Thank you for freeing me.' 'I'll always open the door for you.' 'Are you okay?' 'I'll go back for it once I know you're safe.' His voice echoed in her head.

"No!" her eyes began to tear up. He concentrated on her perfect hands. Her perfectly useless hands.

"Hey, hey! Don't cry. I'm here, you see. Please don't cry." HM's voice pleaded next to her.

She looked up in surprise to see HM's coal black eyes staring back at her tiredly. He gave her a slight smile once he knew he had her attention. Clutched in his hand was his brown rose with 4 petals clinging to the stem.

"I told you I'd be back." He said, wiping the tears she didn't realize she had spilt. "I must have had you pretty worried."

Lady backed away from the hand and the kind gesture, blushing with embarrassment. "I'm simply tired." she said in an attempt to hide her sensitive side.

HM pursed his lips and nodded before standing from his kneeling position. They both took a look at the unfamiliar hallway they stumbled upon. Unfortunately, the walls were occupied by paintings of a man's crying face.

HM scratched at the back of his head thoughtfully. "Why is there no room on the walls?" he asked. He glanced over at Lady again. "Perhaps I could take one down?" he asked.

Lady nodded her approval and HM approached the nearest painting. "Sorry." He apologized to the crying man before lifting the heavy portrait from the wall.

The wall where the painting had been had a hole big enough for a person to climb through. A person with legs, that is.

HM examined the hole curiously. "Let's go in." he suggested.

"Let's not." Lady replied.

"Why not? It'll be fun!"

"There's no way I'm going in there. 1) I can't and 2) we don't know where it leads."

"We'll find out where it goes. Come on, I'll help you." He scooped up Lady in his arms and carefully climbed through the hole.

Lady squirmed in his grip. "I told you not to lift me." she complained.

"I want to check this place out, and I'm not going to leave you again." HM said as he placed her down.

They were in a hall way with pale pink walls and solid wooden doors. "I see a space to hang my frame!" Lady said excitedly.

She crawled over to the wall while HM followed slowly. Lady turned so the back of the frame faced the wall and pushed herself backwards into the frame. Gravity slipped her back in so she appeared to be sitting upright in the painting.

HM took ahold of the frame and placed it properly on the wall. "You're really pretty, Lady." he said.

Lady's mouth twitched before she said, "Thank you." Then she went still, seemingly asleep in her frame.

"I'm going to take a look around while you sleep. I'll be right back." HM gave a sad look at his now 4 petal brown rose, stuffing it in his non-ripped pocket and walking down the hallway.


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter is dedicated to the first and only reviewer for this story: Kiri0952. Thank you for your support. Your enthusiasum has inspired me to post the next chapter today. **

**And for the people who followed and favorited, thank you. Your continuous support makes me happy to be a writer. ^ ^ Now, what you've all been waiting for, it's time to see the new paintings and puzzles I've set up for the gallery! They aren't going to be the best, but I managed something. **

**I don't own Ib.**

Unexpected Alliance: Chapter 3

Lady had slept many times in the past, but she never had dreams then. Dreams were for beings with souls, and since Guertena didn't paint Lady with all his effort she didn't think she possessed a full soul.

This time when she slept, Lady dreamed about a world where the sky was blue and grass grew everywhere. Lady was sitting on a stone bench at the edge of a lake with blue water. She leapt up and danced around on her feet because she'd never done it before.

"-dy… Lady!" She was drawn from her sleep at the voice outside of her frame.

She blinked her eyes and noticed HM standing just outside her frame. He looked a lot better than the last time she saw him. "What is it?" she asked.

"I found a vase of water on that table over there. The water revived my rose. I was wondering if I could take your rose there as well." HM said politely.

Lady reached up and gently caressed the delicate flower. "I think I'll be fine for now. Thanks."

HM gave her a concerned look. "Well, let me know when you want to use it. It may be a bit high for you to reach."

"Okay."

HM smiled at Lady warmly. "We'll leave whenever you're ready. I'll be right here." He sat down next to Lady's frame.

Lady remained still in contemplation on what to do next. She was content staying where she was, but as long as she had the violet rose she was sure she'd be chased by the ladies and headless statues. She figured HM would be able to defend her against them, but they could only run for so long.

Lady leaned forward, letting gravity pull the painted part of her out of the frame. The frame clattered to the ground, digging into Lady's hip.

She winced and looked over at HM. "I'm ready." she said.

"Good. Let's go." After getting back to his feet, HM walked beside Lady. They passed a colorful painting of a candy. "What's this called?"

"Um, that says 'Sweetness'. I suppose it's a candy, but it looks more like a crystal to me."

"What's a crystal? And what's a candy?" HM wondered.

"They are things from the outside world. A crystal is a pretty stone and a candy is a sweet children eat. Mary wanted to eat those things."

"Ah, Mary's the little girl, right? I think I've seen her pass my frame before."

"Yeah, she could open doors, so she would visit often."

"Whatever happened to her?"

"She was burned by the visitors."

"!" HM looked down at Lady with shock on his face.

"I know. You should be careful if you see a visitor, HM. You can never tell what they're going to do."

HM nodded and they moved on down the hall. HM tested a door that appeared to be locked.

The lights flickered when they started to walk away and a rather loud click rung out.

"Shall we try it again?" HM asked, gesturing to the door.

Lady nodded and stood behind him as he twisted the knob. The door swung open. HM held the door for Lady to scuttle through and closed it behind him.

The room had sand on the side of the room they were on and water on the opposite side. HM chuckled in amusement, "This stuff tickles my feet!"

"What's a beach doing in the gallery?" Lady wondered as she dragged her frame through the sand. She spotted something out of place half hidden on the beach.

Lady picked up a white puzzle piece. "What's this doing here?" she wondered.

"I found a key!" HM yelled from where he was exploring.

Lady crawled over to him with the puzzle piece in her fist. "I found something too. Let's go now."

"Okay." They went back out in the hallway. "Oh, what's that?" HM said, pointing to a painting.

Lady crawled to the painting to read the title. "'Unfaithful Sun'." she read aloud. The painting was in yellow, white, orange, and brown portraying a bright sun shining down on a withering brown plant.

"I don't think I like this one." HM lightly fingered the petals of his brown rose. "Oh, you still have your rose?"

"Yeah." Lady fixed the rose in her hair just behind her ear. "But that plant looks like it could use water."

HM hummed his agreement and they continued down the hall. They came to a dead end.

"There's more down that way." HM said, pointing at the way they'd just came.

They turned and walked to the other side of the hallway. They found that the hole they came through had disappeared into the wall. "I guess we can only move forwards." Lady suggested.

They passed another door, but when HM checked, it was locked. "Can't go in here." he said.

"Try the key." Lady reminded him.

HM clumsily inserted the key and twisted it. There was a click. He twisted the knob and allowed Lady to go through.

The room was full of bookshelves and had a table in the center. . On the table Lady spotted another white puzzle piece.

She crawled over to the table and reached as far as she could. She wasn't high enough to get it though.

"You know, it's okay to ask for help." HM came over and slid the puzzle piece for her to snatch.

"Thanks." She muttered before crawling to a bookshelf, hiding her blushing cheeks behind her hair. "Ah, look! A book."

"What does it say?" HM asked while looking over her shoulder.

"Hmmm, it says 'Feeling, like energy, cannot be created from nothing. There must be a cause for change.'"

"I don't know what that means." HM confessed.

Lady shrugged her shoulders. "Guertena had a lot of crazy ideas, but this is just random. What does feeling have to do with art?"

After carefully reading the page to herself again, she placed the book back on the shelf. "Look, Lady, this one is colorful."

"It's drawn in crayon." Lady observed before reading aloud. "'Once there was a lonely princess who just wanted a friend. She lived in a beautiful castle full of servants. One day while walking around her castle, the princess found a girl who was lost. The princess thought she'd made a friend, but an evil king came and took the girl away. Sad and angry, the princess died of a broken heart in her lonely castle.'"

"That's a horrible story!" HM cried, "That poor princess!"

"I wonder what happened to the girl and the king…" Lady said, flipping the book back to the cover, "Or the servants. Were they free to go? Or did they do as they pleased?"

On the cover of the book was a blonde princess in flames. Disturbed, Lady handed the storybook back to HM. "Is there anything else you want me to read?" she asked.

"Um, how about this?" her companion handed her a rather dull looking book.

"'_How to Make Friends_,'" Lady read the cover aloud before opening it. "First you must greet the person with a smile. Tell them your name and be polite.'"

"Sounds easy enough." HM said casually.

Lady glared at him for interrupting and continued. "'Allow your friend to get to know you as you get to know him/her. Don't overwhelm the person, though. Always redirect conversations back to your friend.'" She turned a page. "'In order to keep your friend, you must try your best to keep him/her happy.' That's where it stops. The other pages are blank."

HM took the book from Lady to see it and accidentally nudged a book into the shelf. A click was heard and the bookcase swung open like a door. HM and Lady stared at the opening in surprise.

"Let's go in." HM walked through the new opening.

"This door better not close on us." Lady muttered, glaring at the bookcase skeptically.

"Lady!" HM called.

"Coming!" Lady crawled into the secret room to find it was kind of small. There was only a few bookcases against the back wall.

HM held out a book for Lady as soon as he saw her come in. "Just one sentence." He said when she gave him an exasperated look.

"Fine." she snatched the book and read aloud, "'_Theories of the World_. Via trading existences the imaginary can become reality.'"

HM stared confusedly at the words even though he knew he could make no sense of it. "I don't get it."

"It's basically saying something real could take the place of something fake if it becomes fake itself. I'm… not exactly sure how it works either, but I hear that there's a way Outside."

"Outside?" HM questioned.

Lady sighed as she placed the book back in its proper place. "Did you think this place was real? Where roses represent our lives and paintings can walk outside their frames? Really HM, how naïve are you?"

HM tenderly touched his brown rose. "This place is real." he objected, "This can't be a dream because I can feel pain. Therefore it is real."

"You fool." Lady said, shaking her head in exasperation. She turned to leave, but saw a whit puzzle piece swished between two books. She grabbed that and crawled back out of the small room.

As soon as she cleared the doorway, the bookcase swung shut. "HM!" Lady cried. She turned and tried pulling on the bookcase, but it was to no avail.


	4. Chapter 4

**Happy Friday everybody! I'm sorry for the cliffhanger in the last chapter. I just couldn't resist. Don't worry, I don't intend to pull too many of those. I'm glad you like the puzzles and stuff. ^ ^ I enjoy writing them. **

**It seems like I'm writing alot of Ib. I wrote for different things before, but those weren't as good. I think I'm still developing as a writer, but The only way to improve is if I get feedback from my readers. What can I do to improve? **

**I'm thinking of creating a new Ib fanfiction as well, but I haven't really had the time to really start it. Be on the look out for it this summer! **

**That's enough of my ranting. I'd like to thank Chocolatam and PoisonApple911 for their reviews. Thank you guys! **

**I don't own Ib!**

Unexpected Alliance: Chapter 4

"Lady, are you alright?" HM's voice was muffled behind the bookcase.

"Yeah, but we have to get you out of there!" Lady reached up to press in the book again, but she wasn't tall enough to touch it. "I can't get to the book."

"Step back, Lady. I'm going to try to force it open."

Lady backed herself away and flinched when she heard a bang sound. The bookcase shuddered, but it didn't open. It continued to shake and bang rhythmically until a cry of pain emitted from behind it.

"I…I don't think it's going to open from in here. Maybe there's something on your side that will open it." said HM, trying to sound cheerful through his pain and worry.

"Let's hope so…" Lady stared sadly at the closed door on the other side of the room.

She pulled out a book at random and started reading. 'The art here consider the gallery their home. How could they ever think of leaving such a fun, happy place?'

"Easily," Lady muttered in answer to the question. She heard a scraping sound on the other side of the bookcase, but it didn't open.

"Hey Lady, I found a hole behind the bookcase. I'm going to see if I can come around to you." HM called.

"Go for it." Lady said, "Don't worry about me. We'll meet up again soon."

She heard a shuffling sound and then nothing from the hidden room. "Why are there so many holes in the walls of the gallery?" she wondered as she placed the book on its shelf.

She was starting to get sick of the library room, but she had no way of getting out. She was already missing HM. "That idiot better be taking care of his rose." She growled.

Not seeing anything of interest, Lady crawled to the door. She couldn't reach the knob, so she tried hitting it with her fist. It didn't budge.

With a frustrated sigh, she dragged herself to the wall next to the door and pounded her fists at it. It took a while, but the wall crumbled around her fists. A sharp piece of plaster cut her perfect hand, causing a violet petal to fall.

She ignored the cut and scrambled out of the room. After a quick glance around, she wandered further down the hallway. At the end of the hallway was another door with an empty frame beside it.

"'Milk Puzzle'," Lady read aloud, "But this is empty." She glanced at the puzzle pieces in her hand and it clicked in her brain. "I've got to put this together."

Lady pulled down the empty frame and started solving the puzzle with the pieces she found. There weren't enough pieces to finish it.

Lady turned back to the doors and paintings, accidentally bumping her frame into a tall table. She shrieked as something toppled over and splashed her hair. A vase shattered in front of her.

Lady recovered from her shock quickly, taking her rose out to inspect it. She was startled to see that it had 7 petals once again. "Oh, the vase!" she remembered.

Among the shards of the vase was a white puzzle piece. Lady scooped it up and placed it in the frame. "Just a few more pieces now." She said, turning to face the hall. "I just have to find them."

-With HM-

HM found himself in another library beyond the hole. "Ugh. More books." he groaned. He wished Lady was with him to read the books for him. He would have to simply look at the pictures.

He opened a book and put it back when all he saw were words. Another book her opened had a picture of a snake, a picture of a yellow flower, and a picture of Lady in Blue. "She really is pretty." HM admitted. He ripped the page out and put it in the pocket with his rose.

He inspected the room, but he found nothing of importance. He walked out the door and into a light red hallway. Lady in Red was waiting for him. "Give me your flower!" she yelled as she fell from the wall to chase him.

"No!" HM raced down the hall until he spotted a door. He slipped in the opening and slammed the door in Red's face. The room he was in was filled with the yellow flowers he saw in the book earlier. On the opposite was a really big painting of the yellow flower.

HM approached the paining and glanced at the title. '?' He really wished he knew how to read.

A voice came from the painting. "When do I bloom?"

HM thought for a moment. "I don't know what you are… but don't most flowers bloom in a specific season? Is it… spring?"

"Correct."

The flower and the frame disappeared leaving only a blank canvas. "..? What happened to the frame? I hope it's not after my rose too."

When he turned to the door, he saw that the yellow flowers that had filled the room before were gone. He left the empty room and was a bit startled with what he found. The yellow flowers lined the light red hallway, pointing the way to a part of the wall that was a slightly different shade. Lady in Red was happily ripping off the petals and not paying any attention to HM. HM ran to the part of the wall the flowers showed him and pushed it. The wall swung open like a door. Red cried out in anger when she finally noticed the man with the brown rose leave. "I will have that rose." She said stubbornly as she crawled to the exit. She pushed at the wall and followed after him.

-With Lady-

Lady inspected 'Unfaithful Sun' once more, this time noticing the two white puzzle pieces in it. One was in the sun while the other was on the ground halfway beneath a withering leaf. Lady stretched her hand to reach, but the painting was too far off the ground.

She clenched her teeth in irritation. She wished HM were with her so he could reach for high things and open doors. She had to bust down a wall to get into the beach room earlier and lost a petal on her rose as a result.

She turned and crawled to the painting 'Sweetness'. In front of it was a stairway of books. Lady took apart her creation book by book until her stairway of books was in front of 'Unfaithful Sun'.

"There." she said when she was done. She crawled up until she could reach the painting. The painting's brightness hurt her eyes a bit as she tried to curl her fingers around one of the pieces. "Ouch!" she cried when a violet petal burned off the rose.

She slowly crawled down the stairs, cradling her burned hand. At the bottom, she pulled out her rose from her hair to count the violet petals. There were 5 petals still clinging stubbornly to the stalk. She placed it back in her hair and crawled to the 'Milk Puzzle'.

She arranged the pieces she'd collected from the painting 'Sweetness' and the beach room. There was only a small space left where two pieces were missing.

She was surprised to find the shards of the vase had been cleaned up and a new vase full of water took its place on the floor. Lady was about to place her rose in when she got a brilliant idea.

She dragged the vase with her down to the stairs of books. Lifting it carefully with one hand, she carried the heavy vase to the painting. With a final heave, she threw the water into the painting.

When the water dripped away, Lady saw that the plant was now a healthy green. The sky was blue and the sun didn't look so harsh. The title now read 'Helpful Sun'.

"Ah, that looks much better now." Lady smiled at the happy little plant. Two white puzzle pieces fell out of the painting with the water. Lady snatched them up and hurried back to the 'Milk Puzzle' eagerly.

She put the last pieces in and lifted the finished 'Milk Puzzle' to its place next to the door. After a moment she heard a loud click as the door popped open on its own. "At least I don't have to bust down another wall." Lady said. She crawled through the opening, allowing the door to close shut behind her.


	5. Chapter 5

**It's been so long since I updated this, but I'm back and better than ever! Actually, I recently caught a cold. Oh well. **

**This chapter introduces two characters. No, they aren't Garry and Ib. But I will applaud the readers who can figure out who they are in the game. And their rose colors play an important role on their personalities.**

**I don't own Ib. Enjoy!**

Unexpected Alliance: Chapter 5

Lady looked around in bewilderment. The walls were still a pale pink shade, but they were narrow and turned too soon to be a real hallway. In fact, she had stumbled into a maze.

She moved forward to read the writing in red paint on the opposite wall. 'Rat Trap' it said.

"This place is too cramped." Lady observed. She turned left and froze at the sight of a headless statue moving towards her. The statue hissed at Lady, picking up its pace.

Lady twisted herself around and crawled to the right side of the maze with the headless statue chasing after her. Despite not having legs, Lady could be rather quick.

She scuttled down the narrow passage until she came to a fork. There literally was a fork lying on the floor. Lady paused a moment to pick it up and yelped when the cold, metal hand violently yanked a violet petal.

Lady increased her speed and turned around the corner, coming face to non-existent face with another statue. She pulled her rose from her hair as the statues closed in on her. "You can't play with this. It's mine!" she snarled, holding her hand protectively over the bloom.

A metal hand reached over and grabbed Lady's wrist in a crushing grip. Another petal fell, leaving 3 left on the stalk. "Please don't!" she cried as the statues reached for the rose.

Lady put her fist with the rose to the ground and shifted her weight to it. Then with a satisfying clunk, she twisted her frame out to catch a statue in the knee. The statue lost balance and crashed into the other statue.

Lady didn't hesitate to scramble away from the chaotic mess she caused. Glancing at the rose again, she found that she had lost another petal from hitting her frame on the statue.

"I don't like this place anymore." She said to herself. She increased her speed when she heard the statues getting up and pursuing her again.

-With HM-

The light red walled hallway HM walked into was rather dim. He could barely make out the knives that hung from the ceiling. The hall branched in three different directions.

HM walked straight ahead, avoiding the knives. He wondered just how strong the ropes holding them up were, but then he didn't want to know.

All he found was a locked door at the end of the hallway. With a sigh he retraced his steps and went left. There was a door in that hallway with a painting of a black cat beside it. It looked like a title could be inserted beneath the painting.

HM tested the door, but it was locked. He turned and caught sight of Lady in Red. "I got you now!" Red squealed gleefully.

"Yahh!" HM ran around her, holding his rose too high for her to reach.

"Come back here!" Red protested as he dashed down the unexplored hallway. He passed a painting for a yellow drink in a glass with cubes of ice floating in it. He spotted a door and twisted its knob. He was relieved to find it was unlocked, so he entered, slamming the door in Red's face in the process.

The room he entered had a few bookshelves, two tables, a vase, a painting of a snowy riverbank, and a little girl. A little girl who turned from the painting to stare at HM with fright.

"Are you going to try to steal my rose too?" she asked in a quivering voice.

"No, I have my own, see?" HM produced his brown rose for the scared girl to see and she visible relaxed.

"Thank you." she whispered.

HM examined the little girl he just found. She had pretty blonde hair pulled back in two cute pigtails. She had huge brown eyes that seemed to take in everything with enthusiasm, even when frightened. She wore an orange shirt with a blue skirt. Even though HM didn't have much experience with children, he knew that she was younger than Mary.

The little girl watched him warily, twitching her hands with nervousness. She desperately needed an adult, but she needed a friend even more. 'First you must greet the person with a smile. Tell her your name and be polite.' he could remember Lady saying.

His lips curled into a warm smile. "Hello there. I'm HM."

"I'm Sarah." The little girl smiled back at him.

"Ah, are you a visitor of the gallery?"

"Yeah! My mommy brought me."

"Well Sarah, do you mind if I tag along with you? I'm looking to meet up with my friend. Maybe together we can find her and your mommy. How does that sound?"

"Yay! That sounds great Mr. HM!"

"You can just call me HM."

"Okay." The little girl skipped over to HM, swinging a pink rose with only 4 petals on it in her fist. She waited by the door as HM investigated the room quickly. He didn't find anything interesting in the bookcases and the vase was empty.

He hurried back to Sarah. "Sorry for the wait." He apologized.

"It's okay. The picture's pretty, isn't it?"

"It sure is." He held her hand gently in his and opened the door. Lady in Red was nowhere in sight.

"This way." Sarah lead the way to the other side of the hall where the painting of the black cat was. "I remember this kitty!" Sarah squealed, pointing at the painting.

"Do you remember what it's called?" HM asked hopefully.

"Hmmm…nope. I can't read really well." Sarah said sadly.

"Let's try to think of the title together. Maybe we'll get the right answer eventually."

"Um, let's try 'Pretty Kitty'!"

HM doubted this was the name, but he didn't have the heart to shoot down her suggestion. "Okay."

Sarah inserted her answer and waited. Nothing happened. "Oh well, we'll just have to try a different one." HM said cheerfully to lift her spirit.

"I found you." Lady in Red picked up her pace once she saw the rose-bearers.

HM stayed close to Sarah as they ran back to the room where they met. Red reached for one of Sarah's pink petals, but HM shot his hand out to block her. His hand was scratched, causing a brown petal to drop to the ground.

They made it to the room without any other injuries. Red pounded at the wall, causing the two to give a startled jump. Sarah fumbled with her pockets, gasping for breath as HM pushed the tables against the wall. "Are you alright?" he asked with concern after that was done.

Sarah took an inhaler from her pocket and breathed deeply. "I-I'm fine now." she said somberly.

HM wished there was something he could do to make this girl less scared. "I think there are more pretty pictures in some of these books. Have you checked yet?" She shook her head. "Let's check them out together." he told her with a small smile.

She returned the smile and took his hand before he led her to the bookcases.

-With Lady-

The next time she turned, Lady found a low table with a vase full of water. "Thank you!" she cried to no one in particular. She placed her violet rose in the vase and instantly felt better.

She scuttled along just in time to evade a swipe from a headless statue. "I can do this all day long, dear." she called tauntingly. The statue gave a hiss as it trampled after her.

Lady turned another corner and found a painting of a plate of food. Beside the plate were a knife and an empty space. 'Evening Meal' the title read.

"The fork!" Lady realized. She threw the fork into the painting. It landed silently where it was supposed to and Lady heard a click from somewhere in the maze.

Lady crawled in the direction of the sound with the statues never relenting. She turned the corner and found an open door at the end of the passage. Another statue was between her and her escape route.

"Oh come on!" Lady cried angrily. She charged at the headless statue and tried to slip past. She managed to get by at the cost of another petal. She pushed the open door wide and then slammed it shut behind her. Thankfully, none of the headless statues followed her.

Lady collapsed on the ground, too exhausted to move. She didn't notice the young man with long brown hair tied back and a black rose in his hand move towards her in curiosity. He wore a white button down shirt and black dress pants. His cold grey eyes noticed the violet rose in Lady's hand.

In one quick movement, the man leapt forward, snatched her rose, and ran away.

"Hey!" Lady protested. "Gimme back my rose!" Even though she was exhausted beyond what words could tell, she shakily got up and pursued him.

The man fled to a door and went in, leaving poor Lady locked outside. "This is so unfair!" She pounded on the door and the walls, but they wouldn't give in.

She collapsed on the ground again, uncertain of what she was going to do now that her life was in the hands of a stranger.

**Fun fact: The yellow flowers HM encountered in the last chapter were not yellow roses. When I was writing that part, the daffodils were starting to bloom, so I put daffodils in the chapter. They are so pretty!**


	6. Chapter 6

Unexpected Alliance: Chapter 6

-With HM-

The two looked at and commented on the pictures in the books long after Lady in Red ceased pounding at the door and walls. Since Sarah couldn't read well and HM couldn't read at all, the text was mostly ignored.

"Pretty." Sarah pointed at a picture of a red rose statue.

"I think yours is prettier." HM commented, glancing at Sarah's pink rose.

Sarah giggled as she compared her's and HM's roses with the one in the picture. "Why is your rose the color of poop?" she wondered.

"Um, actually I'm not quite sure. It must mean something…" he said thoughtfully. "Maybe it matches my poopy personality." he joked.

This made Sarah giggle again. She turned the page and gasped. "It's the kitty painting!"

"…?" HM leaned in to get a good look at it. "Yep, that's it alright. Does it have a title on it?" he asked.

"I think so." She put her finger on the large print below the picture the way she was taught in school. "Your d-a-r-k fig-ur." She sounded out loud.

"Your Dark Figure?" HM repeated. Sarah nodded. "Do you think you can remember how the letters go?"

"Yeah," Sarah said. Hand in hand, they went to the door.

"On the count to three. One… Two… Three!" They opened the door and hurried to where the painting was.

Sarah inserted the words from her memory so the title said 'Your Dark Figure'. They heard a click. HM opened the door for Sarah and him to enter.

The room they walked into had two sculptures. One sculpture was a beautiful tree with leaves of silver and branches of gold. "Pretty!" The little girl pointed at the tree enthusiastically.

"This must be really heavy, but I agree that it is pretty." HM replied with a smile.

The other sculpture was a group of three headless statues on a pedestal. They surrounded a cord that hung from the ceiling. "Don't worry about it. Stay here." HM told her. He stepped up to the pedestal and pushed one of them aside.

Sarah climbed up once the statue was moved then pulled the cord. Nothing seemed to happen.

"Let's leave, Sarah. These things are creeping me out."

"Me too." Sarah took HM's hand again and walked out of the room with him.

Lady in Red was waiting for them. "Gotcha!" she sang, snatching Sarah's pink rose from her hand. She crawled away, laughing.

"Wait here." HM ordered as he chased Red.

"Loves me…" A pink petal was plucked. "Loves me not…" another petal was plucked.

"Stop it!" HM smacked the rose out of her hand. Red snarled at him and tried to grab his rose.

HM took the pink rose, sacrificing another of his petals, and ran back to Sarah. The little girl was bent over in pain, breathing heavily from the inhaler. He handed her the 2 petaled rose. "Taked good care of your rose, Sarah. I don't want something bad to happen to you."

She nodded and pocketed her rose. "What about yours?"

"Don't worry, I have 7 petals left. Let's find a vase." HM took her hand again and led her to the door that was locked earlier. This time when he tried it, it opened easily. As they went in, all the knives on the ceiling fell.

-With Lady-

After having a fit outside the door, Lady realized the door wasn't going to open again on its own. She decided to look around for clues.

Along the wall was a painting of a lady stooped over with her hand reaching to the floor of a porch. 'Lady taking Nothing' the title read.

"That doesn't sound right." Lady said to herself. "Something's missing. What do you need?" she asked the painting. The lady in the painting didn't answer her.

Lady shrugged her shoulders and went on her way. She found a door to another room and next to it was a window with a stool in front of it. "Yes! A lucky break!" Lady climbed the stool and banged on the window. The glass shattered, allowing Lady to tumble inside. "Oww!" She got a cut on her arm where the glass pierced.

She looked up and saw that the room she fell in had a lot of boxes and stools randomly strewn. She fell back on her elbows when a small brown blur rushed past her. "What the-" She dragged herself to the wall where a broken canvas was. It looked like something jumped out of the canvas.

She read the title. 'Energetic Pup'. "You're kidding me!" Lady cried as the blur passed again.

]It was indeed a cute puppy. Grasped in its jaws was a worn out newspaper. The pup ran into the senseless passages of boxes.

A message written in blue paint appeared on the pink walls. 'Capture the Flag?' it said. Lady figured the text was talking about the newspaper. "Oh no!" she said, "There is no way I'm chasing that thing! And I hate mazes!"

She turned and pushed a stool under the window when the dog ran past her again. "Fine. I'll get the newspaper while I'm here."

Lady chased after the puppy, but it was just too fast. Eventually, she was able to corner it and force the newspaper out of its mouth.

As soon as the newspaper escaped its teeth, it turned from happy to furious. It snarled and snapped its teeth at Lady, causing her to turn and crawl at top speed. She climbed the stool in front of the window and fell through.

Pushing herself up with one hand, she brushed herself off with the newspaper in the other hand. She crawled away at the sound of the puppy's bark.

She approached 'Lady taking Nothing' and gave her the newspaper. The title changed to 'Lady taking the Newspaper'.

A bracelet dropped from the woman's wrist to the hallway floor. "Gift," the woman whispered.

Lady slipped on the bracelet and crawled down the unexplored side of the hallway. On either end of the hallway were glass cases full of sparkly jewelry. She noticed an empty spot in the case, so she placed the bracelet there.

She heard a clattering sound and turned her head. A painting next to the glass case had fallen. She crawled over to it, finding it had something written on the back. 'Look behind the door.' it said.

Lady continued down the glass case lined hallway until she found a painting of a door. "Why, Guertena? Why a door?" she wondered. Remembering what the canvas said, she tugged the door painting off. Behind it was a hole.

Without a second thought, Lady crawled through.

-With HM-

HM and Sarah found themselves in a dark green room with flickering lights. There was a door at the end of the hall, but it was locked. "A key had got to be here somewhere." HM assured Sarah.

The room had a dirt floor and green plants growing everywhere. Sarah spotted something small pushing itself around on the ground. "Hello." she said.

"Hi." a caterpillar said. "I'm kinda hungry, but the leaves are so far away."

"Did that caterpillar just talk?" HM asked. Sarah nodded. "Well then let's help him out."

"Okay." Together they picked green leaves and placed them in front of the caterpillar.

"Thank you. Wait a minute." It dug at the ground and pulled up a key. "This is for you."

Thanks!" Sarah took the key and unlocked the door. "Let's go, HM."


	7. Chapter 7

***pokes head out from under rock* Hello?**

**... I must have scared off the readers with my neglect. Please don't kill me, wonderful readers! I brought you a new chapter with plot twists of doom! **

**HM: Where were you, Ani?! You had us all worried.**

**Er, family stuff. I went on vacations and I couldn't type long enough to get this done until now. Anyways, there's a puzzle, some bonding, and revealed characteristics of our mystery character. I'd like to thank KiyumiArashi for the mega review. My mind was blown, friend! I'm glad you like this story! **

**Lady: Ani doesn't own Ib. But she does wish you enjoy this chapter nonetheless.**

Unexpected Alliance: Chapter 7

~With Lady~

Lady gasped at the white walled room she had entered. The square of floor was the only piece of floor in the room the rest of the room had squares of canvas which could break if she put weight on them. Each square of canvas had different colored stars on them.

"This is obviously a puzzle. I just have to figure out the trick to it." She glanced up and saw a strange map on the wall. It said start on the left of the wall and an arrow pointed from that to a red circle. Arrows pointed from circle of color to another circle of color until it created a big circle. The arrows pointed from red to yellow to blue to green to orange to purple to silver to black.

Lady looked down at the canvases surrounding her. She spotted one with a red star to her right. Before she stepped on it, she noticed a yellow star canvas in front of that. "It must be the safe path."

She dragged her frame over the red star canvas. It supported her weight without tearing. She moved up to the yellow star, up to the blue star, left to the green star, left to the orange star, up to the purple, up to the silver, and finally right to the black star.

Once she crawled onto the black star canvas, it tore away, Lady tumbled down an inky black hole.

~With ?~

The man with the black rose was startled to see the violet rose he'd found lose all but 1 of its petals. After seeing if his own was at its full 10 petals, he placed the violet rose in the vase.

He wondered who the rose belonged to. Whoever it was, he was certain s/he would have to give him a great reward for rescuing it from Lady in Blue.

The rose revived to 7 petals again. The man took the delicate flower in his hand and twirled it carelessly, smiling. If he didn't get what he wanted from whoever owned the rose, he could always just ensure they never leave.

~With HM~

HM noticed that Sarah was looking tired. "Why don't we rest a bit in one of these rooms?" he asked.

The little girl nodded and followed him down the dark green hall to a door. They went past the door, into a room. A key was lying on the floor next to a bookcase. On the opposite wall was a painting of colorful splotches. A vase stood on a table in the center of the room.

"You should use it." HM suggested.

"But what about your rose?" Sarah protested.

"Don't worry. It has 7 petals left. I'll use the next vase we find."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Sarah gave him an uncertain look, but she placed her rose in the vase. It restored itself to its full 4 petal glory. She smiled at HM when she reclaimed her pink rose. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Sarah." HM sat on the ground with his back to the wall. He placed his brown rose in his pocket with the torn page before leaning his head back for the wall to support. "It's been a while since I've rested. We might have to walk later on, so feel free to rest too, Sarah."

"Okay." Sarah answered. She watched as his eyelids drooped closed then turned to the painting. 'Colors ?' she read on the title. "This one looks messy." she said softly.

She knew HM couldn't read. He told her so in the room with the snowy river bank painting. What she didn't know was why he didn't know.

She went to the key and picked it up, noticing that it was heavy and black. Since the bookcase was right in front of her, she decided to take a look. To her disappointment, there were no picture books.

Sarah checked on HM and saw that he was sound asleep. She sat next to him, leaning into his side as she let sleep take her away from the nightmare.

~With ?~

The man with the black rose tested the door. It was locked as he expected. Instead of pointlessly searching for a key, he took out his multipurpose swiss army knife from his pocket. He went through each part carefully: screw driver, can opener, tweezers, blade, nail file, and lock pick.

He extended the lock pick from the handle and picked the lock until the door clicked open. He walked in, but was disappointed to find he was in a library instead of the exit.

He figured that he might as well look around, so he went to the bookcases. One of the books he read said, 'Embodiment of Spirit. Beautiful at a glance, but if you get too close it will induce pain. It will only bloom in wholesome bodies.'

He put the book back and took out a different one. 'Mary. While the girl appears almost lifelike, naturally she isn't based on a real person.' Next to the text was a picture of a burned canvas.

He flipped a page. 'Hanged Man. Guertena painted this as a page filler while working for a magazine. Once this illustration became famous, it was sold for a limited time as an actual tarot card using the picture. Presently, it is nearly impossible for one to find the tarot card.' He smiled at the image of the prisoner hanging upside down by his foot. He had wanted to see this painting in the gallery, but when he first came, a man was standing in front of it.

He got an eyeful of the image before putting the book back and investigating the room further.

~With HM~

HM sleepily blinked awake. He remembered dreaming, which he never did before. In the dream, he was hung upside down in a prison of glass. Outside the glass, Lady's frame hung on the opposite wall. She sat, staring unblinkingly at him.

He tried yelling to her, but she didn't move. He thrashed his weight around, but the rope around his ankle seemed to only tighten. He was a prisoner in a frame once more.

Now that he was awake, HM wondered how Lady was faring. She was probably still stuck in the library where they separated. He hoped that she was okay.

A light snore brought his attention to his new companion. The little girl was leaning against his side with her head resting on his shoulder. She had her arms wrapped around his arm as though it were a teddy bear.

HM smiled at the sleeping girl. He knew she was a visitor, but he wasn't afraid of her. She was just a lost child who needed his help.

He remained in his position, even when his legs and back began to ache. Eventually Sarah began to stir.

"Good morning sleepyhead. How are you?"

"…Eh?" Sarah slowly stretched and sat up. "I dunno." she finally admitted.

HM cocked his head to the side. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked with concern. Sarah hesitated. "Don't worry. You tell me whenever you are ready." he assured her.

They sat in silence for a while until Sarah turned to him with a question. "Why do you wear funny clothes?"

"Well, I didn't really have a choice in the matter. Though I do wonder what this number on my shirt means…"

"How did you end up here? I wanted to ask Mommy where the bathroom was, but no one was around. When I looked out the window, the floor fell and I was in red room."

"So did you ever find the bathroom?"

"No."

"… I'm not going to ask."

"You didn't answer my question."

"What question is that?"

"How did you get here?"

"Well, I was pulled through a frame, and I landed on a woman. We stuck together for a while, but got separated. I'm trying to get back to her."

"I see… So is she your girlfriend?"

HM sputtered, heat flooding to his face. "Wha-What?! N-no! We just met, Sarah. Lady is just a friend."

"Suuure." Sarah teased in a singsong voice. "HM and Lady sitting in a tree K-I-S-N…" Her voice trailed when she remembered that she didn't know how to spell that word. HM was looking at her funny.

"What? What are we doing in a tree?"

"Um, never mind."

"… Can you read the title of that painting?"

"I read one word. Color."

"I see. So what's your favorite color from that painting?" HM asked.

"Pink. See, it's right here." Sarah stood and pointed at the pink splotch.

"Ah, just like your rose. That shade does look cute."

"What about your's?"

"My favorite color? I'd have to say either purple or blue."

"But what about brown?" Sarah wondered.

"Brown isn't nearly as pretty as blue or purple. Or pink."

"So… about your friend, Lady… what does she look like?"

"Well, she's really pretty with long straight brown hair and blue eyes. Oh! I'd almost forgotten…" HM dug the torn page from his pocket then showed Sarah the picture of Lady in Blue. "She looks like that."

"La-dy in Bl-ooo," Sarah pronounced, "She looks like 'Lady in Blue'?" HM nodded. The girl tried to imagine a woman who looked like the one in the painting. Instead, she remembered an image she didn't want to remember.

"… I had a nightmare before." she informed him after returning his torn page. "Lady in Red was chasing me and she finally caught me." The girl went silent, trying to forget the vision.

HM listened attentively to Sarah's nightmare. "It's alright now, Sarah. I won't let any lady get you." He grinned at her. "And you'll be out and with your Mommy again soon."

"Don't you want to get out too?"

"I do, but I have to find Lady first."

"We'll find her, I know we will." Sarah said with determination.

~With Lady~

Lady groggily opened her eyes. She was in her frame on a wall. That was all she could tell. The place she was in was too dark to see much else. She couldn't even see any other walls or the floor.

Lady was scared and tired. For all she knew, there was no floor below her. It would be best for her to wait until she could see before acting. Because she didn't want to fall to her doom again.

**Sarah, did you use the floor painting as a potty?!**

**Sarah: Wahhh! I had to go REALLY bad!**

***pats Sarah's head comfortingly* There there. I don't think there was a bathroom there anyways. **


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm so sorry I haven't been posting chapters like I should have! This chapter should make up for it, right? **

**Ib doesn't belong to me. it belongs to Kouri**

Unexpected Alliance: Chapter 8

~With HM~

After bonding in the green room, Sarah and HM ventured out into the hallway. The hallway had changed a bit. There were blue dolls hanging from the ceiling and sitting against the walls, watching them.

"Ooo, llamas!" Sarah picked up one of the dolls and squeezed it.

"Um, Sarah..? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Can I take the llama with me?" Sarah stared at HM with pleading eyes.

"It might get lonely without its friends, but honestly, I don't care. Bring it if you want."

A huge grin blossomed on the little girl's face as she swung the doll happily in her arms. "Yay! You're the best HM!" With the doll tucked under her, Sarah skipped happily alongside HM.

They went to the end of the hall where they found stairs going down. Next to the stairs was a painting of a canyon on the wall. "'? Fall'." Sarah read aloud.

"Shall we go down?" HM asked.

"Sure." Sarah took his hand and they descended together.

The stairs led to a hallway with black walls and black carpet. The lights flickered every now and then, making it easy to run into a wall if someone wasn't careful.

Sarah's grip on HM was tightened. "This place is scary. I don't like it."

"It'll be okay, Sarah. I'll be with you the whole time. You don't have to be afraid."

"Okay…" They walked past a headless statue with a switch next to it. Sarah went over to the switch and flipped it.

The flipped switch seemed to bring the headless statue to life. It came after them, hissing and shrieking.

"Ahhh!" HM pulled Sarah along to a door. Thankfully, it was unlocked. "Quick, in here!"

They hid from the headless statue in a room with only a mirror in it. Curiously, Sarah tugged HM along with her to take a closer look. Their images reflected off the glass looked normal enough, but when HM blinked he swore he saw a word written over Sarah's head in marker. On the contrary, Sarah noticed a rope drawn in marker around HM's neck when she blinked.

"This mirror must have been tampered with." HM excused the occurrence with a frown. "Are you feeling okay? You look rather pale."

"I-I'm fine." Sarah stammered, looking away from the image in the glass.

They went back to the door and HM opened it. When the door swung open it hit the face of someone from outside. "Ouch!" the guy glared at them angrily as he touched his nose with one hand. "I think you knocked off a petal."

"Sorry." HM apologized, his eyes wide from surprise. He and Sarah backed away from the door to let the guy in.

The man had long brown hair tied back and grey eyes. He had two roses in his hand: a black rose and a familiar violet one.

"I'm HM and this girl is Sarah." HM introduced.

"Hi!" Sarah waved cheerfully.

The guy stared at HM. "I think I've seen you before." he said slowly.

"And I've seen that rose before. How did you get it?"

"I found it." he said shortly. Then he grinned, "I'll give it back for a price…"

"Give it back to him! It's Lady's!" Sarah realized what the rose was to HM and she was quick to help her friend.

The man with the black rose tightened his grip on the roses. "Lady… as in Lady in Blue?"

HM froze and nodded slowly. The man's sick grin grew. "HM… You are Hanged Man. I knew you looked familiar. So this is what you look like right side up."

"Did you take that rose from Lady?!" HM asked in a low voice.

"Mmm, I was wondering why she wasn't playing that silly game." He brought the violet rose before his eyes and gripped a petal between his finger and his thumb. "I should get rid of this 'Lady' before she becomes a threat." At that, he tore off the petal.

"No!" HM yelled. He launched himself at the man and punched him in the face. The violet rose fell out of his hand.

While the man was distracted with HM, Sarah swooped in to take the violet rose. She stood by the door and watched in suspense.

The man with the black rose snarled as blood dripped from his nose. He grabbed HM's shirt front and shoved him at the wall. HM fell, but scrambled to his feet quickly.

The man with the black rose took out a swiss army knife from his pocket and extended the blade. Sarah gasped as he approached HM. "Look out!" she cried.

The man swung the knife at HM. HM dodged and grabbed the man's wrist. He pulled the guy by his wrist and threw him at the malfunctioning mirror. The man hit the mirror with the back of his head then collapsed.

HM dashed over to Sarah, panting hard from the fight. "Come on!" He took Sarah's hand before they fled from the room.

"How's your rose?" Sarah asked with concern. She had the pink rose and the violet rose in one hand while her other hand clutched the blue doll to her.

HM held out his brown rose with 6 petals. "I'm fine." he said with a smile. "Are you okay? That was kinda frightening."

Sarah nodded as she followed down the hallway. At the end of the hallway was a door that was also unlocked. The room behind the door had a sign next to a staircase going down. "'Beware of ?'" Sarah read aloud. "Beware of what?"

"Let's play it safe and distrust everything." HM suggested. He stepped down the stairs and an arm shot out of the wall next to him. "Ahh!" he shouted in surprise when it pulled a petal from his rose.

He side stepped away from the arm. "Let's stay in the middle of the stairs." he said. Sarah nodded, following after him.

More arms shot out of the wall, but they stayed out of reach. "Why did he call you Hanged Man?" the little girl asked.

HM stiffened slightly at his terrible name. "Because that is the name I was given when I was painted."

"So you are a picture here? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't think it was important. Why, are you scared of me now?"

Sarah chose not to answer the question because she was a bit scared of HM now, but she was even more afraid of being alone.

HM glanced back at her. "I guess it doesn't matter because I told you I'd get you back to your Mommy. I'm not leaving you by yourself."

Sarah stared at him with surprise. "Thanks." she said.

"It's no problem." HM replied as they reached the bottom of the stairs. They were in an empty room with only a black door.

They opened the door and entered a hallway with black carpet and walls. Across from the door was a wall with a plaque under a space where a painting should have been. "'Lady in Blue'" Sarah read aloud.

"Let's look around for her." HM suggested. They continued down the hall until they heard a rhythmic thumping sound.

"What could that be?" Sarah wondered when the sound got louder. HM's shoulders tensed at the familiar sound. "We'll find out soon enough."

When they turned the corner, they were met with the sight of Lady throwing herself at the wall next to a door, muttering unladylike words to herself.

"Lady!" HM called happily.

She turned at the sound of his voice and spotted them. "HM!" she cried, crawling to her fellow painting to wrap her arms around his legs.

"Lady, this is Sarah. Sarah, this is my friend Lady."

Lady backed away from HM to get a look at Sarah, who held out the violet rose to her. "This is yours, right?" the little girl asked politely.

"Yeah. Thanks for getting it back to me." Lady took the rose, squashing the urge to play Loves Me, Loves Me Not.

"Sarah isn't from around here, so I promised to get her out. Will you help me?" HM explained to Lady.

Lady placed the rose in her hair again and glared at HM. "I told you to be careful of visitors, HM. One of them stole this rose from me. The only other time I was so scared was when you lost your rose." Lady shuddered at the memories. She glanced over at the young visitor. "But this one is just a child. The gallery would eat her alive."

"We have to get her outside then." HM was determined and Lady could see that.

She sighed wearily. "Alright then. We'll get her home." she agreed with a tired smile.

**Alright! HM and Lady are back together! And they are going to help Sarah! Too bad the guy with the black rose is a psycho. I don't know why I made him that way. Maybe the gallery made him go mad. *shrugs* I needed a bad guy.**


End file.
